One of the undeniable truths about suicide is that its impact reaches far beyond the intended victim.

In “Body and Bread,” a stunning debut novel by San Antonio writer Nan Cuba, the reader is introduced to Sarah Pelton — a university professor who studies world cultures looking for answers to her questions about the workings of her own family, and a grieving sister who still mourns the death of the brother she lost to suicide many years before the novel begins.

Sarah, an archaeologist, sifts through the artifacts of her family's history to piece together the story that leads to the implosion of her family.

The novel, which is the subject of a Gemini Ink Dramatic Readers Theatre presentation Friday, moves back and forth in time to illustrate the gradual breakdown of the Pelton family, headed by father Owen — a physician more invested in making absolute proclamations (“Problems can be corrected through a systematic identification of facts. ...”) than in cultivating relationships with each of his children — and mother Norine, whose sense of right and wrong is centered squarely on her own needs. Norine's apparent strength of character masks her one overwhelming desire: to maintain the appearance of the Peltons as a unified, prosperous and well-bred family.

Enter Sam, the Peltons' middle son, and Sarah, their only daughter. Sam is as careless and brash as Norine and Owen are careful and mannered. Sarah is a curious explorer, more concerned with her parents' approval than Sam, but not so concerned that she allows her decisions to be controlled by them. The brother and sister form a bond based on their willingness to ask questions, consider multiple answers and not be constricted by limited notions of right and wrong. When Sam begins a relationship with Terezie Cervenka — precisely the wrong sort of girl, as far as Norine is concerned, the daughter of tenant farmers working the Peltons' property — Sarah is reluctant to let go of the brother she adores, but simultaneously fascinated by the girl he chooses to marry in spite of (or, perhaps, because of) their parents' disapproval.

Shaping the contemporary portion of the Pelton family's story are Terezie and her daughter, Cornelia, who needs a kidney transplant to save her life. The money to pay for that transplant, however, still is wrapped up in the Pelton family estate. Sarah's surviving brothers, Kurt and Hugh, want to limit Terezie's claim to the family's assets, feeling no particular loyalty to their dead brother's widow, with whom they've had limited contact since Sam's death — and feeling no greater obligation to her dying child. Sarah's concern for Cornelia's well-being, and her growing relationship with the girl, mark yet another breaking point within the Pelton family unit.

Cuba, founding director of the local literary nonprofit organization Gemini Ink and an associate professor of English at Our Lady of the Lake University, shows that her greatest strength in this novel is an ability to replicate the intricacies of sibling relationships.

Sam and his brothers act out a rivalry that feels authentic. Kurt, always concerned with following their father's example, finds Sam more an annoyance than anything else; Hugh idolizes his rebellious older brother until Sam's death, then shifts his loyalty to his surviving brother. Sarah, meanwhile, works to navigate this network of complicated family bonds while being locked out of it — first because she's the only female sibling, and later because of her choice to follow Sam's example and live a life far different from her brothers' lives.

“Body and Bread” is a beautiful examination of family dynamics in the wake of suffering, and the ways that grief continues to shape our lives far beyond the death of a loved one.